Sony NWZ-S738F Walkman Review

The Walkman series have come a full revolution from the bulky old generation MP3 players to the latest sleek MP3 players. But the USP remains the same : Amazing sound quality! Sony NWZ-S738F Walkman is the latest Walkman MP3 player to hit the market. Surprisingly, it does not have a touch screen display. Apart from that it has great features with impressive battery life.

Sony NWZ-S738F Walkman specifications :

• Dimensions : 1.7″ x 0.3″ x 3.5″
• Memory : 8GB
• Weight : 1.6 oz
• Display : 2″ TFT with 240 x 320 resolution
• Supported formats : WMA, WAV, Protected WMA, MP3, AAC
• Audio features : Clear Stereo, Clear Bass
• Headphones : Binaural in-ear ear-bud
• Battery : Rechargeable Lithium-ion
• Approx. price : $179

The MP3 player has a sober design which is anything but flashy. Black is the only available color option with the player. The dimensions of the player are compact and it is marginally thicker than iPod Nano, its closest competitor. The player has a 2″ screen, but a bigger one could have certainly made its way.

The player is controlled by physical buttons which are well laid out. The buttons offer good tactile feedback and are intuitive to use. The right side of the player has the volume rocker and the hold switch. Noise cancellation switch, USB port and the headphone jack find their way at the bottom.

The menu has been well organised for blazing fast navigation. The menu is laid out in a 3 x 3 icon grid. ID3 tags are used to sort music according to artists, genre etc. The interface supports themes and wallpapers too.  The Walkman supports all major audio formats along with JPEG photos and MPEG, M4V movies. SenseMe can be though as a substitute for Genius feature in iPods and it analyzes songs but groups them in pre-defined categories.

The Walkman player also has a built-in FM player which can store upto 30 preset radio stations. Podcasts are now supported on Walkman series and have a separate menu too. You can copy them by simply dragging from iTunes. Noise cancellation is another handy feature that works quite well. The bundled headphones do quite an impressive job and you can stick to them if you are a casual listener.

Performance of the player is sublime. It offers rich quality of sound with deep bass. Custom’s EQs help in improving sound quality. The display has great quality showing clear pics but movies are not too good. The battery life deserves a round of applause with 40 hours of music playback and 10 hours of video.

Pros :

• Simple but cool design
• Compact and light weight
• Good earphones
• Intuitive menu
• FM Radio
• Great sound quality
• Amazing battery life

Cons :

• Small display
• Average video playback
• No touch screen

Final Thoughts

The Sony NWZ-S738F Walkman player is a great offering from Sony that quite matches upto the iPod Nano. It has a nice design along with great menu layout. FM Radio always comes in handy. Excellent sound quality and battery life steal the show. Overall a great alternative to the iPod Nano.

My Rating : 4/5